Ranger Scout Car
For other units also named Ranger, see Ranger. Confederate Ranger Scout Car "In one sense the charge that I did not fight fair is true. I fought for success and not for display." :-John S. Mosby Tactical Analysis *'General Purpose': Used by the Confederates for scouting purposes, the Ranger Scout Car is quick, has a low profile and is capable of (very) minor harassment. Thousands of these vehicles have been recovered by the Confederates, making the deployment of these vehicles very cheap. *'Used Arms Dealer': The Ranger's main armament is a machine gun manned by a Confederate soldier, which is useful for attacking opposing recon units or isolated infantry and decent at downing thin skinned aircraft and flying infantry. In addition, Confederate Rangers also carry a stash of Seismic Scanner mines. These mines can attach to enemy vehicles, slowing them down and damaging them over time. *'No-Star Crash Rating': The Ranger is not a proper combat unit and should be kept away from combat. Its armour leaves much to be desired and its machine gun is near useless against heavier vehicles. *'Luxury Features': Ranger crews who've been around long enough are able to construct home-made mortars from scrap gathered from the battlefield. This gives much needed firepower and range to the Ranger, enabling them to serve as high-speed hit and run light artillery pieces. Operational History When the Americans joined the Allies in the Second World War, they brought with them a huge production capacity and the fruits of the American automotive industry, the most famous of which was the Ranger General Purpose Motor Vehicle. Existing in twenty-eight distinct variants and marks, the Ranger was the backbone of supply, scouting, patrol, mobile warfare and, well, just about any other role the Allies could think of. There was even an anti-tank version of the machine, armed with a recoilless rifle! However, the most common version is the regular GPMV-2, which was designed for combat. The GPMV-2 was a staple of Allied ground forces, used to support advances as well as on their own in massive "Ranger Fleets", often consisting of hundreds of vehicles probing deep into enemy lines. With robust suspension, four wheel drive and a powerful compact V6 engine, the Ranger was quintessentially American; a cheap, robust and reliable model. The survivability of these vehicles is legendary; they could be jury rigged back together with almost anything, and would come back from almost any damage with only a few hours in the repair shop. "The Ranger is winning us this war, without a doubt," quipped famed American General Patton in 1952. Ironically, he was killed two days later in a crash between his staff car and a captured Soviet supply truck, but it is said that he was driven to the hospital in the same vehicle, a testimony to its rugged nature. After the war, surplus GPMV-2s were sold to various world powers while others were left in the Boneyard, stacked one on top of each other, such were their numbers. It is estimated a million Rangers were constructed by all the various powers during the Second World War, including a limited production run of 2,500 built from captured models by the Soviets to serve as command vehicles, such were their reputation. Millions more have been produced around the world, making it one of the most common vehicles in existence. The Ranger is the workhouse of the Confederate military, used in every way imaginable. Due to the untold number of vehicles recovered from the Boneyard, it is estimated that there may, in fact, be more Rangers than Confederate military personnel. The concept of the Ranger Fleet has been resurrected, and many among them consider themselves the successors to John Moseby, a famed Confederate cavalry raider of the First American Civil War. One of their uniquely Confederacy-ish uses is as a deployment system for Seismic Scanners, which is a small combination of resonance weaponry and remote cameras. They are built cheaply on the move, out of scrap materials; it's rumoured they are built out of spare Ranger parts, so one thing is for certain; they aren't going to run out of them any time soon. Behind the Scenes *The Ranger is yet another part of RA1, being based of the Allied vehicle of the same name. *The design of the Rangers themselves was derived from a combination of Jeeps, Humvees, and rally versions of the Mini Cooper, while the mortar is based on the Pitbull from C&C 3. Just the Stats ARVN Predator Response Vehicle Tactical Analysis *'First Responder': The Predator is a much more rugged and powerful version of the Ranger. Though it has sacrificed some speed for more armour and a heavier complement of weapons, the Predator is still faster than anything else the ARVN have on the field, and is thus the obvious choice to react against VC attacks. However, as a simple car, it quickly flounders in the jungle and needs to stick to the clearing and paths. *'Two for the Price of One': The Predator's dashboard .30 cal machine gun can be fired on the move and react quickly to new targets, making it ideal for cutting down enemy infantry. The significantly heavier Brushclearer Minigun takes a few seconds to spin up, but will unleash a massive torrent of ammunition that can tear apart groups of infantry and any foliage they might have been hiding in. *'Burning Brightly': While the Predator isn't the most well armoured vehicle in the ARVN arsenal, it doesn't even need to stay in an area to scout it; the flares it drops can keep an area of the fog-of-war clear for a significant period, allowing the ARVN to monitor trouble spots. *'Spin-Up': The most sought-after upgrade for Predator crews are the powerful electric motors and battery packs used by Allied miniguns, which allows the Ranger's minigun to spin into action almost instantly. Operational History With so many Rangers in the world, it is unsurprising that the ARVN has a fleet of them. Their ruggedness is a must for fighting the hated Vietcong. Naturally the Ranger would be the first choice for the harsh climates of Vietnam, but the Pipe Bomb Trip Mines and Pungi Stick Traps of the Guerrilla have taken a heavy toll on the ARVN morale. However, the ARVN were unwilling to part with their Rangers and took a rather unconventional step to keep them viable. They ordered after-market parts from vendors abroad to customize and upgrade the Ranger to meet the demands of the war. The glass windows were replaced with quarter inch steel plates while sandbags on the floor provided additional protection from land mines. The mounted Bull Bar (or brush bar) provides an effective plough for the ARVN Predator Response Vehicles to run through the dense vegetation or even infantry. Lastly, they removed the M2 Browning heavy machine guns, replacing them with 7.7mm "Brushclearer" miniguns and mounting an additional Browning .30 cal machine gun on the passenger's side. The crews of the refurbished Predator Response Vehicles feel that they are their own and love to challenge the Reservist Ranger Battle Cars to friendly off road competitions. Just the Stats Reserve Ranger Battle Car "We pull up a battery of Howitzers onto a good overwatch position and the battle is as good as over!" :- Corporal Will Thompson, RBC Driver Tactical Analysis * Combat Tested: Better armoured compared to older variants, the Ranger Battle Car is better suited to Reservist tactics. The current model of the Ranger Battle Car is armed with the "Milly" 40mm grenade launcher, a weapon effective against thin-skinned vehicles and battlesuits. * Fire Missions Anywhere!: The Ranger Battle Car is also equipped with a powerful electrical winch that can attach to Pershing Howitzers and tow them around the battlefield quickly to give artillery support wherever it may be needed. * Not an AFV: Although better armoured than its older cousin, it is still rather flimsy and cannot withstand much damage. In addition, the 40mm grenade launcher isn't as effective as the Browning .50 cal HMG against infantry. Operational History Since the success of the Ranger Scout Car in WWII, they have been constantly serving in the Allied military. Although most commonly found transporting equipment to and from the frontlines, they are just as home speeding across the fields and dealing with small squads of infantry. However, their poor armour and light armament meant that it was generally unwise for them to be standing toe to toe against main battle tanks. To fulfil this role, several GPMV-2s were outfitted with recoilless rifles for anti-tank duty and flanking support. This was the beginning of the Battle Ranger project, which eventually led to the Ranger Battle Car. The Ranger Battle Car is equipped with a cheaper, multipurpose alternative to the inflexible recoilless rifle of the original variants, the "Milly" 40mm grenade launcher. Although far less effective against tanks, it excels at shredding thin vehicle and battlesuit armour, as well as suppressing infantry with successive volleys of fragmentation grenades. In addition, the Ranger is covered in 1/4" carbon steel plating, enabling the Ranger to take more punishment before being destroyed. In head-on combat, a Ranger Battle Car could stand toe-to-toe with a Multigunner IFV, an impressive feat for an aging WWII troop transport design. In addition, after an incident where a Ranger Battle Car and a Howitzer crew won an entire battle when the Ranger towed the Howitzer to a cliff overlooking the enemy force with nothing but rope, enabling the Howitzer to rain destruction on a enemy caught completely flatfooted. Following that incident, Ranger Battle Cars were outfitted with electrical winches, allowing them to attach to a hard point on the Howitzer, and tow them across the battlefield, greatly increasing the Howitzer's mobility. Category:Units Category:Vietnam Category:Units Originating from the United States